Return mailing piece



' March'19, 1 935; M, B. KOVNAT RETURN MAILING PIECE Filed April 29,1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Do; 2 D o' CHICAGO I LL T11 oavolHo 20a M nor! 40AY 5T.

M WWWWW/Z77/WW/7% March 19, 1935. M. B. KOVNAT RETURN MAILING PIECE 0 SS M Patented Mar. 19, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 14 Claims.

This invention relates in general to a mailing piece and is moreparticularly described as a return mailing piece combining an originaland a return mailing envelope in one.

One of the principal objects of the invention is in the provision of anoriginal mailing piece open for postal inspection which may be sent at alow postal rate and combining and including a return envelope in whichan enclosure such as money, a coupon or a letter may be returned.

A further object of the invention is in the provision of a mailing pieceof this class in which the original address is printed but once upon themailing piece and appears upon the return mailing piece without furtherattention or signature of the person to whom it is first addressed.

A further object of the invention is in the provision of a returnmailing piece comprising an envelope with a flap and an extension, theflap being reversible and covering one side of the envelope as anoriginal mailing piece and the other side of the envelope as a returnmailing piece.

A further object of the invention is in the provision of a returnmailing piece comprising an envelope having the adhesive for sealing theflap at the lower edge of the envelope rather than on the flap oradjacent the upper edge of the envelope. v f

A still further object of the invention is in the provision of anenvelope with a flap and an extension, the extension exposing theaddress of the person to whom it is originally sent and being removableand the flap being reversible and folded over the original address andsealed in place covering the original address.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the accompanyingdrawings illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a'perspective of a mailing piece inaccordance with this invention partially folded for original mailing;

Fig. 2 is a perspective of a mailing piece folded and sealed fororiginal mailing with the upper edge partially opened for postalinspection;

Fig. 3 is a section of the folded and sealed mailing piece;

Fig. 4 is a blank or development of a single sheet from which themailing piece is produced;

Fig. 5 is a section of the mailing piece in return form with the flapreversed and sealed at the lower rear side of the envelope;

Fig. 6 is a perspective of the mailing piece before the flap isreversed;

Fig. 7a is a perspective of the mailing piece after the extension issevered, the flap reversed, and ready for return sealing.

Fig. 7 is a perspective of a modification having a larger extension tothe flap, foldable over the opening of the envelope and the envelopehaving an ungummed flap at one end for postal inspection; Fig. 8 is asectional view of the original folded mailing piece; and Fig. 9 is asectional view of the return mailing piece with the end flap alsoclosed;

Figs. 10, 11 and 12 are perspective views of another modification inwhich the envelope flap is folded upon itself, reversing the extensionso that it may be folded over the envelope, leaving the opening exposedas in Fig. 2 for postal inspection, Fig. 11 illustrating the partiallyclosed position of the original mailing piece, and Fig. 12 illustratingthe partially closed position of the return mailing piece; and

Figs. 13, 14 and 15 illustrate another modification with a furtherextension to the flap foldable partially zig-zag and over the bottom ofthe envelope, Fig. 14 illustrating the original mailing piece partiallyclosed, and Fig. 15 illustrating the return mailing piece partiallyclosed.

A return mailing piece of this kind is particularly adapted foradvertising purposes, for reminding customers of remittances,collections, renewals, and to make offers of merchandise for which theprospect is to return a coupon or make a payment or. remittance. Thesides or surfaces of the mailing piece, other than the addressed faces,may therefore be printed to advertise the goods which is offered forsale, the intention being to provide a return envelope which requires noattention upon the part of the prospect except to enclose his remittancein the envelope, to remove the extension flap, to sealthe envelope andre-mail it.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, this mailing piececomprises a single piece of sheet material such as paper for forming anenvelope having a front 10, a back 11, and two end flaps 12 which arefolded together and sealed in any ordinary way to provide a completelyformed and pasted envelope. Extending from the upper edge of the frontof the envelope is a flap l3 foldable reversely over the front and backof the envelope upon a fold line 14. Extending outwardly and beyond theflap 13 is an extension 15 having a fold line 16 for connecting it tothe flap 13.

On the back 11 of the envelope is an outline 16 for receiving anoriginaladdress 17 therein which is visible through a window 18 of theexdesired either end of the extension 15 may be bent outwardly from theenvelope as indicated in Fig. 2, to disclose the interior of theenvelope proper for postal inspection, if desired. This will permit themailing piece to be sent originally at a low mailing rate which may be asaving of postage for the original sender.

When the original mailing piece is received by the person to whom it issent the seal 20 is broken and the extension is severed from the flap 13along the fold line 16, the envelope flap 13 preferably having cut-awayedges 21 at the extremity thereof for more easily defining the fold line16 and for more easily severing it along the line 16.

Instead of the envelope flap or the upper portion of the envelope beingprovided with an adhesive for attaching the flap 13, the lower edge ofthe back 11 of the formed envelope has an adhesive or gummed portion 22extending below the original address 17 so that to seal the envelope asa return mailing piece the flap 13 is reversely folded about its foldline 14 until its outer edge covers the original address 17 and iscaused to adhere to the back of the envelope by the adhesive 22. Beforethe envelope is sealed any desired remittance or enclosure may beinserted in the envelope which has a printed return address 19 so thatthe person returning the mailing piece is not even required to attachhis signature in order that the original sender may know the sender ofthe return piece.

In the form shown by Figs. 7, 8 and9, the envelope has a back 30 with aflap 31 attached thereto and with a flap 32 unattached to the back butprovided with dry gum 33 by means of which it may be sealed for firstclass mail matter. A flap 34 has an extension with two sections 35 and36, the outer one having a window opening 37 through which a sendingaddress 38 is visible when the flap 34 is folded over the face of theenvelope and the sections 35 and 36 are folded over the envelope asshown. A fastening stamp, seal, or clip 39 may be attached over theedges for holding the parts together as an original mailing piece andthe flap 34 is reversely folded and attached by means of the adhesive 22at the lower edge of the back of the envelope as shown in Fig. 9.

In the form shown by Figs. 10, 11, and 12, the number of sections of theextension is the same as in the form shown by Fig. 7 but the envelopeflap is foldable upon itself in two sections 41 gummed edge 22 at thelower back edge of the envelope.

The form shown by Figs. 13, 14 and 15 is similar in operation to thepreviously described form with the exception that the flap instead ofbeing divided into two sections is in one section 51 and the letter orextension 51 is in three sections 52, 53 and 54 which fold over the faceof an envelope 55 in zig-zag form as shown more clearly in Fig. 14 andthe outer edge secured by a seal 39, the outer section 54 with itswindow 56 then disclosing the original address 57 and when the flapextensions are removed the flap 51 is bent reversely over the opening.of the envelope 5'7 and secured to the gummed strip 22 at the loweredge of the envelope back.

In all of these forms the folded envelopes for their original or firstmailing are secured by means of a stamp, seal, or clip 39 as in Fig. 8,and it will be seen that the envelope is gummed about its lower backedge, that the flap extension has a window in the outermost sectionwhich discloses the original sending address at the back of theenvelope, and that the envelope flap proper is foldable reversely inusing the mailing piece originally and as a return mailing piece. A flapextension of various sizes may be provided having one or more sections,to contain as large a message either in the form of a letter or asadvertising material, as desired, and in each case the original mailingpiece is accessible for postalinspection so that it may be sent at aminimum postal rate and still will provide a re-' turn envelope ofspecifically novel form which may be returned as a first class mailingpiece.

I claim:

1. A return mailing piece comprising an envelope with a return addresson the front face of the envelope, a flap and an extension forming acontinuation thereof having an indicated severing line upon which theextension is foldable and by which it is easily severed, the flap beingfolded over the face of the envelope and the extension over the rearthereof as an original mailing piece, and the extension being removedalong the indicated severing line and the flap only reversed and appliedover the rear of the envelope as a return mailing piece.

-2. A return mailing piece according to claim 1 in which the removableextension is connected to the flap by a fold line terminallydistinguished by notched edges and along which it is severed in changingthe original mailing piece to a return mailing piece.

3. A return mailing piece comprising an envelope with the return addresson the front face and the original address upon the back, a flapfoldable over the front face to cover the return address as an originalmailing piece and over the back to cover the original address as areturn mailing piece, and a severable extension of the flap having awindow therein and foldable over the back of the envelope as an originalmailing piece, the window disclosing the original address which iscovered by the flap when the extension is removed and the flap reversedto cover the back.

4. A return mailing piece according to claim 3, in which the extremityof the flap extension covers the back of the envelope, and fasteningmeans extending over the edge of said extension and the mailing pieceand engaging the adjacent edge of the flap for holding the mailing piececlosed.

5. In a mailing. piece according to claim 3, means for holding themailing piece closed; at the position.

7. A return mailing piece comprising an envelope with a foldable flapand a foldable extension thereof adapted to cover the back of theenvelope, the envelope having a return address upon its face and anoriginal address upon its back, the extension having an opening throughwhich the original address is visible; and a sticker extending over theextremity of the extension, the open edge of the envelope, and theadjacent inner edge of the flap to hold the parts together as anoriginal mailing piece and to expose the envelope for postal inspection.

8. A return envelope having a flap and an extension to cover theenvelope back as an original mailing piece, means for securing the partstogether for postal inspection as an original mailing piece, theextension having means for disclosing an original address upon the backof the envelope, and an adhesive strip at the lower edge of the back ofthe envelope to which the flap will adhere when it is reversed to coverthe original address and to close the envelope as a return mailing piecewith the extension removed.

9. A return mailing piece comprising an envelope with a reversible flapand a foldable removable. extension thereof adapted to extend over theenvelope back when the flap covers the face of the envelope, means forsecuring the extension and the open edge of the envelope together, andan adhesive to secure the flap to the back of the envelope when it isreversely folded to cover the back thereof. r

10. In a return mailing piece, an envelope having a flap and anextension having a window opening and foldable to cover the back of theenvelope disclosing an address thereon for originally mailing the piece,the extension being removable without afiecting the envelope, and theflap of the envelope being reversible from a position covering the faceof the envelope as anoriginal mailing piece to a position covering theback of the envelope and covering the original address thereon, theenvelope being provided along its lower back surface with an adhesivefor holding the flap in place thereover.

11. A return mailing piece comprising an envelope with a flap and anextension thereof having an address window therein, a return address onthe face of the envelope, an original address on the back of theenvelope disclosed by the window when the extension is folded andcovered by the flap when the'mailing piece is returned, and one end ofthe envelope having an unsealed flap openable for postal inspection andgummed for sealing as first-class return mail.-

12. A return mailing piece comprising an envelope with end flaps onepermanently attached to the back and the other dry gummed and open forpostal inspection but closable for first-class return mail, a flap andan extension thereof having a window aperture to disclose a sendingaddress on the back of the envelope, the flap and extension foldableover the envelope opening, and the lower edge of the envelope backhaving an adhesive for attaching the envelope flap and covering theoriginal sending address when the mailing piece is returned.

13. Areturn mailing piece comprising an envelope having a flap and amultiple fold extension thereof, a sending address on the back of theenvelope and a return address on the front, the outer portion of theextension having a window to disclose the sending address, and the flapbeing foldable upon itself to reverse the folding of the extension andto position the window over the sending address, the envelope beinggummed at its lower rear edge to attach the edge of the flap thereto andcover the sending address.

14. A return mailing piece comprising an envelope having a flap and aremovable multiple folding extension having an address window at itsouter portion, the flap and extension foldable in zig-zag fashion at oneside of the envelope and the window portion extending over the edgethereof to disclose a sending address on the back of the envelope, theextension being severed from the flap as a return mailing piece, theflap being foldable reversely over the envelope as a return mailingpiece, and the lower rear edge of the envelope having an adhesive forattaching the flap thereto.

MAURICE B. KOVNAT.

